GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — With canyons to the West and the Grand Mesa to the East, Grand Junction seems more suited to filming a spaghetti western than serving as the headquarters of a federal agency.

But if the Trump administration has its way, the town will become the new home of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

Trump officials, in their push to drastically scale back BLM’s presence in Washington, want to put the agency’s employees and its offices closer to public lands concentrated in the West.
Instead of choosing a major metropolitan hub like Denver or Salt Lake City, BLM will instead be relocated here in Colorado’s Western slope, about four hours from any major city.

Critics of the planned move argue it’s an effort to dismantle the agency — shedding staff who are unable to uproot and move across the country on short notice and keeping them away from the corridors of power in Washington.